Ball crank engine



Sept. 29, 1936. T. M. BERRY BALL CRANK ENGINE Filed Sept. 30, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Sept. 29,1936. T. M. BERRY BALL CRANK ENGINE Filed Sept. 50, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEYS Patented Sept. 29, 1936 UNITED STATES.

BALL CRANK ENGINE Thompson M. Berry, Shaw, Miss; assignor of Benton, Miss.

twenty-five per cent to Christopher R Berry,

n Application September 30, 1935, Serial No. 42,938'

' Claims.

This invention. relates to engines and has for an: object to provide novel means for translating the rectilinear movement of the pistonsto rotary movement of the engine. shaft without the use of: the conventional. crank movement.

It has been known: for this purpose to mount on' the shaft tobe rotated a wobble plate. operated by the pistons and engaging a pair of circular cam: membersv mounted'on the shaft and. having their adjacent faces. arranged: obliquely wobble plate to permanently restrain said con nections to rectilinear movement; 4 1

A further objection to: the above described type ot'inotion translating mechanism is that it is difficult to obtain eflicient coa'ction between the-wobble plate and the pistons or connecting rods owing to the. peculiar movement of the wobble plate and accordingly the present invention has for another object to provide arcu'ate connecting rods which permit of the bearings on the'wobble plate being made. much shorter than ordinarily and hence less liable to be disrupted due to torsional-strains.

A further object o-f'the invention is: to providea device of this character which will be formed of a few strong, simple and durable parts,.'wh'ich will be inexpensive. to manufacture, and will not easily get out of order.

With the above and other objects in view the invention consists of certain novel details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter fully described and claimed, it being understood that various modifications may be resorted to within the scope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings forming part of this specification,

Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through an internal combustion engine constructedaccordance with the invention.

Figure 2' is a cross section taken onv the line 2-2 of Figure 1 and showing the wobble plate in 5 elevation.

Figure 3 is an enlarged detail section of the motion translating part'ssh'o'wn in Figure 1 withv parts in elevation.

Figure 4 is a cross section i -+4 of Figure 1. v t

Figure 5 is a side elevation of the housing for the motion translating parts and showing the guide; slots. I

Figure 6 is. a cross: sectional view taken onthe 15 line 6-6 of Figure 5; I V r Figure 7' is an exploded detail elevation of the engine shaft and ball rotating members.

Referring now to the drawings in which like characters of reference designate similar parts 29 in the various views, l0: designates a plurality of internal combustion engine cylinders which are arranged in opposed relation around the engine shaft II. A half ball member I2 is formed integral with the. shaft and. a halt ball 25 member I 3 is keyed tov the shaft, as shown at I' lin Figures 3- and 7.. The opposed faces of the ball members are arranged. obliquely and spaced apart parallel with one-another toprovide an oblique cam'groove l5 between the; members. 39 One of. the members is provided with an oblique hub I'G perpendicular with its oblique face, against which the oblique face of the. other member is held in abutting contact by means of: a jam nut ll which is screwed on to a threaded 35 portion I8 off the. shaft.

Mounte'd on the hub lfibetween the members [2 and ['3' is aring I19 and annular series of ball thrust bearings 20 are provided between the taken: "on the line 10- sides of the ring and the oblique'faces of the ball members to reduce friction between the parts. Thus the ball members l2 and I3 can rotate easily relative tothe ring I9 when the ring is oscillated by the pistons as will presently be described. 45

The ring is provided with radially disposed pins 2|, one for each cylinder, as best shown in Figure 2, and loosely mounted on each pin is a sleeve 22 having ears 23 at diametrically opposite points thereof. The sleeve is confined against a shoul- 50 der 24 on the pin by means of a washer 25 and a. nut 26. Pivoted to the ears 23 of each sleeve are the arcuate connecting rods 21 of opposing pistons 28. Each piston is provided with a substantially triangular web 29 which extends slightly beyond the open end of the cylinder and is pivoted to the associated connecting rod. Thus the connecting rods can swing relatively to the piston and the associated sleeve 22 can swivel on the pin 2| during reciprocatory movement of the pistons.

When the connecting rods 21 are reciprocated they tend to oscillate the ring l9 and give it a wobbling motion, whereby the axis of the ring prescribes two opposite cones having their apices meeting at the center of the ring I4.

movement to the members thus rotating the shaft H.

The pins 2| are subjected to considerable torsional strain and to reinforce them to resist this strain a housing 30, best shown in Figure 5, I

is preferably formed of two mating sections 3| and 32 which are provided with flanges 33 at intervals through which bolts 34 are passed to assemble the sections upon the ball members I2 and I3. A plurality of slots 35 are formed in the housing parallel with the engine shaft ll, these slots corresponding in number to the number of pins 2| on the ring l9 and receiving the pins. as best shown in Figure 3. The walls of the slots form guides for confining the pins to rectilinear movement and also reinforce the pins to resist torsional strains.

The housing 30 is provided at diametrically opposite points'with tubular bearing housings 36 which extend along the engine shaft H and are equipped with ball bearings 31 for journaling the engine shaft l I. As shown in Figure 4, the bearing housings are provided with lugs 38 which are bolted as shown at 39 to heads 40 to which the open ends of the cylinders are bolted as shown at 4|. The heads 40 are provided with flanges 42 which are bolted together, as shown at 43 in Figure 1 and form a casing or housing for the reciprocating rods 21 and associated parts.

It will be observed that the pins 22 are relatively short in length, this being made possible by the curvature of theconnecting rods 21 and the elongated webs 29 which connect the rods to their respective pistons adjacent the wall of the pistons. These short bearings or pins 22 are less liable to be disrupted due to torsional strains produced by the peculiar movement of the ring I9 or wobble plate, than where long pins are used and especially where long pins are used without reinforcing and guiding means such as the above described housing 30 with the guide slots 35,

1. Aninternal combustion engine comprising The ring in being confined in the cam groove l5 between the ball members l2 and [3 will imparta rotary cylinders, pistons in the cylinders, an engine shaft parallel with the cylinders, a ball on the shaft including two half ball members having their circular plane faces confronting each other and being disposed obliquely across the shaft, one of the members being integral with the shaft and having a shoulder normal to its plane face, the other member being keyed to the shaft and having a portion of its plane face abutting the shoulder, a nut adjustably securing the keyed member to the shaft, the shoulder and the plane faces of the ball members forming an oblique cam groove, a ring in the cam groovehaving radial short pins on the periphery, curved connecting rods for the cylinders, sleeves loose on the pins and pivotally connected to the connecting rods, and a housing for the ball having guide slots *parallel with the engine shaft and receiving the pins outside of the sleeves.

2. 'An internalcombustion engine, cylinders,

' pistons'in the cylinders, an engine shaft parallel with the cylinders, a ball on the shaft including two half ballmembers having their circular plane faces confronting each other and being disposed obliquely across the shaft, one of the members being integral with the shaft and having a shoulder normal to itsplane face, the other member beingkeyed to the shaft and having a portion of its plane face abutting the shoulder, a nut adjustably securing the keyed member to the shaft, the shoulder and the plane faces of the ball members forming an oblique camgroove, said ball having an oblique hub forming the bottom of the groove, a ring in the cam groove seated on the hub and having radially disposed short pins on the periphery, curved connecting rods for the cylinders, sleeves loose on the pins and pivotally connected to the connecting rods, and a housing enclosing the ball and having straight guide slots parallel with the engine shaft and receiving the pins outside of the sleeves.

3. An internal combustion engine comprising cylinders,,pistons in the cylinders, an engine shaft parallel with the cylinders,.a ball on the shaft including two half ball members having their circular plane faces confronting each other and being disposed obliquely across the shaft, one of the members being integral with the shaft and having a shoulder normal; to its planeface, the other memberbeing keyed to the shaft and hav-- ing a portion of its plane face abutting the shoulder, a; nut adjustably securing the keyed memberto the shaft, the shoulder and the plane faces of the ball members forming an oblique cam groove, a ring in the camgroove havingradially disposed short pins on the periphery, annular series of ball-bearings between. the ring and the walls of the cam slot,,a housing encirclingthe balland havingi slots parallel with the engine shaft and receiving the pins outside of the sleeve,.

tubular bearing housings integral with the first named housing and extending along the engine shaft, and annular series of ball bearings in the tubular housingsjournaling the engine shaft.

- THOMPSON M. BERRY. 

